Wednesday, 28 October 2015

We're back in the new segment by me,my homemade cooking :P
I think this is also a good idea for me to keep track of my cookings and to keep my recipes here because I,as a normal human being tends to forget things sometimes even if the recipe is easy peasy,especially when I rarely cook those dishes.

One pot pasta wonder

This is an easy peasy recipe :P.There is no specific ingredients on what you can dump inside the pot,as long as they make a good combination with one another,it would be a good meal.This recipe is inspired by a pasta meal in ikea here that I like so much,normally I ate with steamed salmon at Ikea,but at home,I make a salmon teriyaki,it went well with this pasta anyway.

My one pot pastarecipe
I dumped shell-typed pasta,cauliflower,carrot,peas,paprika powder,a lil bit of turmeric to give yellowish color,cooking cream,water,salt and pepper.Bring the ingredients in the pot to a boil and check the softness consistency of the pasta from time to time.A mark to know whether you pasta is ready or not is when it gets creamy and the water is all soaked by the pasta and other ingredients.

One tip to how much water should be added is when it covers the surface of the ingredients.

Chicken Paprikash/Hungarian chicken stew.

It was simply yummy and such a recipe to keep

Methods

First saute the chicken breast cut into medium size until 3/4 cooked.And transfer the chicken onto a place.In the same pot,saute diced brown onion,diced tomato and paprika/capsicum until fragrant and soft.Add back the chicken and keep mixing for a few minutes.Add some water and thick tomato paste and make sure to cook on medium heat.And don't forget the main ingredient,the paprika powder as much as you like.Keep stirring and pour a dollop or two of plain yogurt or greek yogurt,lastly season with salt and pepper.

Honey Chicken Chipotle ala Chilli's

This is a new trial recipe by me.Being a lover of Chilli's Honey Chicken Chipotle,I always wanted to try this recipe out.I didn't know where to get Chipotle sauce or powder at first,only to find the sauce sold in local supermarket here under the "USA Food Section".

My HCC was a hit,tasted 99.999% same as the original one at Chilli's.I was so happy :)

Fig Galette

I made a very easy Fig Galette because the fig season is in!This is another recipe to keep

For the dough

1 cup of flour mixed using hand with 6 Tbs of chilled butter into crumbs.Add a pinch of salt and lastly 3-4 Tbs of cold ice water and keep kneading until the dough doesn't stick to the hand anymore,keep refrigerated for one hour before using.

For the filling

Cream cheese mixed with a few Tsp of maple syrup and fig slices.Spread the cream cheese on the dough and later cover with the fig,into the oven for around 20 minutes at 180 degrees!

Laksa Johor

I just have to admit,I think laksa johor is the best laksa in Malaysia haha.Since I tried it the first time at a friend's house lately,I am hooked.I googled the recipe,the original version is a tad bit too difficult and many of the ingredients are not easy to find here.So,I googled for the perantauan version,and I found a very easy recipe with ingredients that can easily be found here

If you wanna try this easy version here goes

Method

Blend boiled dried chillis,red onion,garlic and ginger.Make a curry paste(both beef/chicken or fish are ok,I used fish curry paste) by adding a bit of water,a bit of cumin and corriander powder.First in a pot,heat some oil and saute the curry paste until fragrant and cooked.And then add the blended ingredients and cook for a while until the chilli is cooked.Later in the same blender,blend tuna in a can and some shrimps,but leave some chunky part,don't overblend.Now add the tuna and shrimp in the pot and mix well.If the gravy is too thick,add some water.Then add coconut milk,3-4 Tbs of kerisik,2 pieces of asam gelugur,season with salt and a bit pepper.Voila!

Bread and Butter Pudding

I have been baking this dish for years now,and it has become my husband's favourite as well.Well,I believe at every household toast bread is a must.But sometimes we forget to eat it and by the time we want to eat it,it already approaches its expire date.Fret not,try my BBP

Methods

In a pot melt the butter on a medium heat.Later add milk,sugar and egg and a few drops of vanilla essence.In a caserole,tear the toast into 4 pieces and arrange in the casserole.Now,pour the milk batter into the casserole until it covers the surface of the bread.Let the bread soak the milk for at least 5 minutes.Scatter the almond slices and choc chip on top,into the oven for around 30 minutes at 180 degree celcius until the bread turns golden brownish.

Tuesday, 27 October 2015

So,this is the last part of day 3 in Barcelona.After spent the whole noon at Park Güell,our stomach called for some food,so we went to La Rambla again because the day before I saw several halal restaurants and because I wanted to visit the local market selling various products ranging from food,vegetables to meat and poultry as it was closed on Sunday when we were there.

This food market is called La Boqueria,opposite to the Erotic Museum on the street of La Rambla.If you come from the direction of Place de Catalunya,you will see the market on the right side.

This market is so colorful and I was so excited to see many products made of local fruits in various colors.I bought the mango-coconut juice for only 1.50 Euro and it tasted marvelous.And then I bought some fruit cuts from another stall.I literally wanted to buy all juices available because it was so juicy and sweet :P

Oh,we came again here on our last day because I wanted to satisfy my craving of buying another cup of fruit juice :P

The fresh juices at very very reasonable price

And the fruit cuts too

After La Boqueria,we walked some more to find a place for lunch and came upon this one halal indian restaurant.Had a quick lunch there since Alayna was a bit cranky and after that we walked to the funicular station going up the Montjuic not far from the restaurants.This is another famous tourist destination in Barcelona.There is an old castle and what's interesting about this place is that the visitors can have a clear view of the harbour and the seaside from up there.

We spent quite some time up here before we walked down from the mountain passing the Olympic stadium and walked some more towards the direction of Font Magica de Montjuic,unfortunately the fountain didn't run that day,so we walked until Plaça d'Espanya and took the metro back to the hotel.

The harbour as seen from Montjuic

On the way down the hill

The Barcelona Olympic 1992 memorial tower

The freaking big National Art Museum

Near Font Magica de Montjuic

It was the toughest and most tiring day for me because we hiked up the hills a lot on that day starting from Park Güell to Montjuic.So,after getting back to the hotel I just wanted to rest myself and my feet while my husband went outside again that night with Alayna bringing me back some coffee.Oh,so sweet :)

Monday, 26 October 2015

Oh,my,I still owe you guys the updates of my Barcelona trip 3 weeks ago although we just got back from another trip to the nature-preserved part of Switzerland over the weekend.

As much as I want to tell you guys how beautiful Switzerland is,I have to first finish my updates on Barcelona.

On the third day,the first thing we did in the morning was going up the hill where the famous Park Güell is.There is however a regulation that tickets bought will only be used for certain reserved time only,meaning the visitor cannot just buy the ticket and go inside immediately after or at any time of the opening hours.

This is most likely to preserve the place from any damage if there are many visitors at one time because this is also a most visited place in Barcelona amongst others.

We bought our tickets online because even if we bought the tickets on spot,we are not allowed to enter the park right after,have to wait for at least 2 hours or so.

So,we decided to buy the ticket for first entrance in the morning because we didn't want to be in rush if we go to other places first and come here later.

A little fact of Park Güell

Park Güell is a public park system composed of gardens and architectonic elements.With urbanization in mind, Eusebi Güell assigned the design of the park to Antoni Gaudí,The park was built between 1900 and 1914 and was officially opened as a public park in 1926. In 1984, UNESCO declared the park a World Heritage Site under “Works of Antoni Gaudí”

Park Güell is the reflection of Gaudí’s artistic plenitude, which belongs to his naturalist
phase (first decade of the 20th century). During this period, the
architect perfected his personal style through inspiration from organic
shapes. He put into practice a series of new structural solutions rooted
in the analysis of geometry. To that, the Catalan artist adds creative
liberty and an imaginative, ornamental creation. Starting from a sort of
baroquism, his works acquire a structural richness of forms and
volumes, free of the rational rigidity or any sort of classic premisses

So,Park Güell is another famous masterpiece by Antoni Gaudi.It is a big place I must say.We started waking from the metro station going up the hill carrying Alayna's stroller because that's the only way to go up there.It was tiring but it was all worth it when we were greeted with a spectacular view of Barcelona city.

This park is separated into 2 parts,one is the paid part where the mosaic designs and stone-made pillars are located and the rest is for free.

This view from on top of Park Güell,one can see as far as the ocean

By now you should have known the typical Gaudi's architecture

Queuing to enter a museum

The famous mosaic dragon by Gaudi

These almost-look-like-natural-stone-formed Pillars are actually all man-made

Monday, 19 October 2015

The continuing story of 2nd of the 2nd day in Barcelona.So,after spent some time at the harbour,we walked some more towards one of the most famous beaches in Barcelona called Barceloneta.All along the way heading to the beach we stumbled upon immigrants selling stuff and I was attracted to see how they do their business,and what method they use to elope when the police or the city council come and chase them away in order that their selling stuff will still be in good confition afterwards.

Well,I don't know why,but seeing these people who work hard day and night just to get some pocket money makes me realize how easy my life is,anything that I wanted my husband or my family will get them for me easily.

Sometimes I never think of unlucky people in this world.Many of them don't wish for the life they are living,but because they were born with it and they don't have opportunity to have a good education because of poverty that makes them work hard day and night,leaving their countries to be in a better place :(

At a funfair nearby Barceloneta Beach

Some beach bar I am interested in its wall design to attract customers

Barceloneta Beach

From Barceloneta beach,we walked some more towards Parc de Ciutadella,as from what I read this is another recommended park to be visited.

We spent some time here before decided to have a late lunch at a local restaurant not far from the park.Another thing I like about Barcelona is the seafood selections in their menus at the restaurants or cafes.And the fact that Barcelona is close to the sea makes the seafood here tastes really fresh,unlike in many places in Germany.

Oh,my,as I'm writing this now I can still remember how the seafood I ordered tasted like.

Parc de la Ciutadella

I ordered fried calamari and the giant-sized mussels.I don't know how did they cook the mussels,but I noticed they were the mix of mussel and crab stick,and on top is coated with bread crumb.It was so good I had to take it back home :P

After filling our tummies,we walked some more to Arch de Triomf,Spanish version of statue of commemoration.It was a lovely evening with lovely weather.We watched kids trying to catch some giant bubbles and Alayna was all excited too,but still too small to chase them as well :)

Arch de Triomf

After that,we walked towards the El Born neighbourhood and Gothic Quarter(Town) which has several famous tourist attractions.

Church Santa Maria Del Pi

From inside the church

Got back to the hotel by metro and at night we went to search for some food again in direction of Sagrada Familia.End of our second day in Barcelona.

Saturday, 17 October 2015

So sorry for my long overdue of Barcelona update.Thing is,it's getting colder these days,so makes me feel a bit lazy to update,and also because we have been visited some places with colored leaves as the autumn won't stay long anymore,in fact it gets as cold as in winter already these days :(

So here goes my synopsis of my second day in Barcelona part 1,because apparently we spent a lot of time visiting many nice places on second day(and we walked a lot too,it was around 18kms according to my phone),so we took like a gazillionth pictures that day :P

So,the first place we went on second day is the famous local shopping road called La Rambla.Here you can find many types of restaurants,cafes,souvenir shops,and just name everything you want to see.It is a long road and on the right and left side of the road are the home to many old nice buildings,which some are famous among visitors and receive many visitors each day.

The long street of La Rambla,starting from Placa de Catalunya heading towards the harbour

Stumbled upon this erotic museum with a replicate of Marylin Monroe looking out the window.It is a real person playing her :P This place is just opposite to La boqueria,a famous cheap food market.We stopped there but it was closed on Sunday,so we came again on Monday.

The bike tour group at a beautiful Spanish styled square called Placa Reial,home to some restaurants and cafes

The garden of the ministry of ....( I don't quite remember anymore :P)

As we walked some more in small pedestrian walkways just next to the main road of La Rambla,we came across many small churches,old buildings that nowadays house several museums

Catedral de Barcelona

In front of the cathedral we came across a group of people dancing in slow motion.Only to find out some time later that every Sunday at 12 noon,there are people dancing this typical catalan dance called Sardana

Almost at the end of La Rambla street,a street artist dressing up to be a statue of Galileo Galilei

After leaving La Rambla,we arrive at a monument before heading to the Barcelona harbour.